CCB Magazine

Ela Kagel: "We do not advise start-ups that are looking for a quick exit"

Photo: © Robert Novakovic

What sustainability consultancies are there in Berlin? In Part 3 of our series "Sustainability Consultancies in Berlin", we talk to Ela Kagel from Platform Cooperatives Germany, who support cooperatively oriented companies such as cooperatives or purpose organizations in their start-up and help them find the right business model for them.

INTERVIEW  Jens Thomas    ANDBORIS MESSING

CCB Magazine: Hello Ela, how long has your consulting service been available? What is your focus? 

Ela Kagel: Our consulting offer exists since 2021, it takes place within the framework of the Social-Economy-Berlin-Program. Our main focus is to support decision making regarding different types of enterprises and enterprise transformations such as the GmbH, cooperative, social enterprise, purpose enterprise, DAO or similar. We also assist in the development of governance and participation structures and offer step-by-step consulting in the start-up process for prospective cooperatives or platform coops. The consulting offer can last up to four days..

CCB Magazine:What sets you apart from other sustainability consultancies in Berlin?

Ela Kagel:Our focus is on cooperative business forms, especially cooperatives or digitally oriented platform coops, which is also our differentiator. Accordingly, our consulting services are aimed at social enterprises, non-profit organizations, but also private individuals or collectives that are about to be founded or for which the founding was not so long ago. In contrast, we do not advise companies that are already established on the market.

CCB Magazine:Can you describe a classic case? I am person XY and want to get advice from you: What service do I get? 

Ela Kagel:First of all, we clarify by e-mail or telephone whether we can help at all. If so, we make an initial appointment to get to know each other via video call, during which we determine the specific need for consulting. In this first meeting, it usually becomes immediately clear what the issue is: Often teams have the desire to work cooperatively, but are unsure whether they should directly found a cooperative. Then it's also about what we classically call the "business model", i.e. the product or service that the company to be founded wants to offer. This is where it gets exciting, because a lot of teams are more about membership programs, shared funding, or activating a community. So quite often we move out of the familiar economic frame of reference and develop new structures of value creation. Commons orientation, democratic co-determination, and shared property management are central to our work.  

CCB Magazine:On which questions can you also not advise - and to whom do you then refer?

Ela Kagel:The way we advise joint ventures is not primarily market- or profit-driven. Our work is guided by cooperative principles, transparency, and public benefit-oriented principles. We also cannot advise start-ups that are working for a quick exit. What we also cannot offer is legal or tax advice. If we are not so familiar with certain thematic focuses, for example specific challenges in agricultural projects, we refer to the other consulting partners within the framework of Social Economy Berlin: https://socialeconomy.berlin/beratung/. In this pool of consulting companies, we are sure to find someone who is more familiar with the topics.

CCB Magazine:How do you finance yourselves? How long is your project financed?

Ela Kagel:The project is funded by the Social Economy Berlin program. Social Economy Berlin (SEB) is a project of the Social Entrepreneurship Netzwerk Deutschland e.V. (SEND) and the Technologie-Netzwerk Berlin e.V. The project is supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Business.

CCB Magazine:How are you staffed? What are your backgrounds and how many consultations have you done? 

Ela Kagel:We are three people in the team. We cover finance, entrepreneurship, business model development and organizational design. As a team, we have probably done over a hundred consultations, averaging two to three per week. We are not just consultants either, we are passionate about building businesses and organizations ourselves, designing structures, and most importantly overcoming hurdles to startups. For us, community enterprises are not simply instruments of the market, but an opportunity to create livelihoods for many.

CCB Magazine:Do you have any other services or offerings for cultural professionals and/or creative businesses besides your consulting services?

Ela Kagel:We regularly host workshops, online calls, and conferences on topics such as platform coops, governance, co-ownership, and organizational design.

CCB Magazine:Finally, a statement please: For me, sustainability is...

Ela Kagel:...when economic activity is not only reflected in capital or profits, but cycles are created that provide for the long-term satisfaction of needs, but also for the preservation of natural resources and the development of a common infrastructure.

Read also Part 2 of the series: consultation and project development in culture

Category: Specials